Vacuum cleaner head with shag rug rake

ABSTRACT

A transversely elongated suction head arranged in T-shaped and fixed relation to a tubular suction wand has transversely extending front and rear rake bars pivoted in its ends. Teeth on the bars swing down on retracting motion of the head, and upwardly and rearwardly on advancing motion. A rotary brush positioned within the head and between the rakes is rotated oppositely to the motion of the head by friction drive of wheels on the end of the head connected to the brush by reverse drive gearing also connected to the ends of the head.

nited States Patent 1 Mein [54] VACUUM CLEANER HEAD WITH SHAG RUG RAKE [76] Inventor: Gary W. Mein, 6108 Cypress, Kalamazoo, Mich.

[22] Filed: June 14, 1971 211 App]. No.: 152,550

[52] US. Cl. ..15/369, 15/388, 15/402 [51] Int. Cl. ..A47l 9/06 [58] Field of Search ..15/367369, 15/371373,40l,402

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,633,241 l/l972 Schmitz et al. ..15/369 X 1,191,999 7/1916 Roever ..l5/369 1,228,176 5/1917 Bishop ..15/369 [111 3,733,66 51 May 22,1973

2,153,457 4/1939 Fechtenburg ..15/369 X Primary Examiner-William 1. Price Assistant ExaminerC. K. Moore AttorneyAustin A. Webb [57] ABSTRACT A transversely elongated suction head arranged in T- shaped and fixed relation to a tubular suction wand has transversely extending front and rear rake bars pivoted in its ends. Teeth on the bars swing down on retracting motion of the head, and upwardly and rearwardly on advancing motion. A rotary brush positioned within the head and between the rakes is rotated oppositely to the motion of the head by friction drive of wheels on the end of the head connected to the brush by reverse drive gearing also connected to the ends of the head.

2 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTEDMAY22 I975 3. 733 646 INVENTOR. GAQY W. MEIN ATTORNEY VACUUM CLEANER HEAD WITH SHAG RUG RAKE OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION The suction head and rake of the invention is particularly designed for use on long cut pile carpets referred to in the trade as shag carpet. The head provides rakelike teeth that pull up the shag pile, which frequently becomes matted down in use. Besides the raking action, the head applies suction force or vacuum to the carpet while the pile is pulled to upright position, thus creating cleaning vacuum between the piles.

The head further incorporates a contra-rotating brush to lift the piles oppositely to the action of the rakes, to brush the sides of upstanding piles. This picks lint off of the piles, feeds piles to the teeth of the rakes, and fluffs the pile, all while subjecting the effected area of the carpet and the piles to the cleaning action of the vacuum.

DESCRIPTION The drawings, of which there is one sheet, illustrate a preferred form of the suction head and rake.

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view, partially broken away, of a suction head of the invention and the handle or wand to which it is connected.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical cross sectional view taken along the plane of the line 2-2 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross section on line 3-3 in FIG. 2.

The head consists generally of a downwardly opening rigid housing 1 which is rigidly connected in T-shaped relation to an elongated tubular handle or wand 2. The wand includes a hand grip portion 3 at its upper end and is adapted to be engaged with the suction hose of a vacuum cleaner. Located within the housing are a forward rake 4, a transverse rotating brush 5, and a rear rake 6. A rotation reversing transmission 7 is secured to each end wall 8 of the housing to reversely drive the shaft 9 of the brush from friction drive wheels 10 mounted on each end of the housing.

Referring more particularly to FIGS. 2 and 3, it will be seen that the wheels 10 are keyed to sleeves 11 which rotate onthe shaft 9 and extend to integral pinions 12 within the transmission 7. The pinions 12 drive reversing gears 13 on stub shafts l4, and the reversing gears in turn drive ring gears 15 which are keyed to the shaft 9. The brush 5 thus rotates oppositely to the wheels 10 as the wheels are pushed over the carpet.

The end walls 8 are vertically slotted from the bottom as at 16, so that the shaft 9, with the transmission 7 and wheels 10 thereon can be slipped easily upwardly to the ends of the slots. Screws 17 are then engaged through the end walls to the casing 18 of the transmission to hold the parts assembled.

The end walls 8 also have shorter upwardly extending front slots 19 and rear slots 20 which receive the ends of the front cross bar 21 and rear cross bar 22 of the rakes 4 and 6 respectively. End plates, one of which appears at 23 in FIG. 3 are then secured to the insides of the end walls 8 as by screws 24 to hold the rakes in the head. The end plates may have saddles 25 on their upper sides to assist in supporting the shaft 9 of the brush 5.

With particular reference to FIG. 3 it will be seen that the teeth 26 of the forward rake 4 project downwardly below the housing when the head is retracted toward the right as viewed. The rotating motion of the teeth is limited by stops 27 which project from the shaft and engage the inside of the housing. Similarly, the rear cross bar 22 has projecting stops 28 which engage the rear wall of the housing and limit swinging of the rear rake to the downwardly projecting position of the rear teeth 29 as shown. Upon advancing motion of the head, to the left, the teeth swing up into the housing until motion over the carpet has no effect on them. The teeth project sufficiently below the housing in their retracted positions so that they will be picked up and pulled downwardly by retraction of the head. The contrarotation of the brush will pick up piles missed by the rear teeth 29 and present them in raised position to the front teeth 26.

What is claimed as new is:

l. A rug engaging tool for vacuum cleaners comprismg a downwardly opening elongated suction housing secured in transversely crossing relation to the end of a tubular vacuum handle,

a plurality of rake bars extending longitudinally within said housing and pivotally supported in the end walls of the housing,

spaced straight and rigid teeth on said rake bars swingable to below the open bottom side of said housing,

and coacting stop means engageable between said rake bars and said housing limiting rotation of the bars to downwardly projecting positions of said teeth upon retracting motion of said head.

2. A tool as defined in claim 1 in which the ends of said rake bars are received in slots formed upwardly from the bottoms of the end walls of said housing,

and rake retaining plates secured to the end walls of said housing below the ends of said rake bars. k 

1. A rug engaging tool for vacuum cleaners comprising a downwardly opening elongated suction housing secured in transversely crossing relation to the end of a tubular vacuum handle, a plurality of rake bars extending longitudinally within said housing and pivotally supported in the end walls of the housing, spaced straight and rigid teeth on said rake bars swingable to below the open bottom side of said housing, and coacting stop means engageable between said rake bars and said housing limiting rotation of the bars to downwardly projecting positions of said teeth upon retracting motion of said head.
 2. A tool as defined in claim 1 in which the ends of said rake bars are received in slots formed upwardly from the bottoms of the end walls of said housing, and rake retaining plates secured to the end walls of said housing below the ends of said rake bars. 